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Is John McCain Really “Strong on National Security”?

by • October 6, 2008

Well, is he? Especially when he was wrong on what may have been the biggest security blunder of our time? Read what he had to say in 1998 (H/T Open Left).

Question: You not only have had combat experience in Vietnam, but you were also a prisoner of war. When you look at terrorism right now, with people like Osama bin Laden, do you have any reservations about watching strikes like that?

Answer: You could say, Look, is this guy, Laden, really the bad guy that’s depicted? Most of us have never heard of him before. And where there is a parallel with Vietnam is: What’s plan B? What do we do next? We sent our troops into Vietnam to protect the bases. Lyndon Johnson said, Only to protect the bases. Next thing you know…. Well, we’ve declared to the terrorists that we’re going to strike them wherever they live. That’s fine. But what’s next? That’s where there might be some comparison.

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(Emphasis added by me)

Now yes, this was 1998. However, President Clinton and his National Security team knew Osama bin Laden and his al-Qaeda were a serious security threat in 1998. In fact, John McCain & his fellow Republicans accused President Clinton of “wagging the dog” to “distract” from the Monica Lewinsky bullsh*t when he tried to take out al-Qaeda in Afghanistan. Senator Joe Biden also knew in 1998 that al-Qaeda was a serious security threat, and he was trying to convince his Senate colleagues to see what he was seeing as well. And only four years later, then Illinois State Senator Barack Obama warned us all of what would happen if we were to turn away from fighting al-Qaeda to invade Iraq.

And what did John McCain do this whole time? He joined George W. Bush and the rest of the GOP in dropping the ball on our real fight against real terrorists. No wonder why he still doesn’t understand al-Qaeda.